Badly Decomposed Body Found in Lake Home

February 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

The owner of a summer residence near Center Hill Lake returned home Tuesday after being away for several months and found a badly decomposed body of a man inside the premises.

The body has been sent to Nashville for an autopsy. The man’s identity has not yet been confirmed.

Sheriff Patrick Ray issued the following statement:

“On Tuesday February 1, 2022, at 11:08 p.m., DeKalb Central Dispatch received a call from a person on Captains Point Road stating he found a dead body at his residence.

Officers arrived on the scene and discovered a badly decomposed body of a man in a detached sunroom of the residence. The homeowner stated he had not been to the residence since November 1st 2021.

Sheriff Ray said “We believe the body of the man is someone we are familiar with. It appeared the man had been living in the sunroom without the owner’s consent. The residence is a summer home and no one stays at the residence full time. The body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Nashville for a positive I.d. and a cause of death.”

February 2, 2022
By:

County Mayor Tim Stribling has announced that DeKalb County has been selected to receive $5,693.00 in Phase 39, and $17,596.00 with the American Rescue Plan Act to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the county.

The selection was made by a National Board that is chaired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and consists of representatives from The Salvation Army; American Red Cross; United Jewish Communities; Catholic Charities, USA; National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA; and, United
Way of America. The local board is charged to distribute funds appropriated by Congress to help expand the capacity of food and shelter programs in high-need areas around the country.

A local board made up of community representatives will determine how the funds awarded to DeKalb County are to be distributed among the emergency food and shelter programs run by local service agencies in the area. The Local Board is responsible for recommending agencies to receive these funds and any additional funds available under this phase of the program.

Under the terms of the grant from the National Board, local agencies chosen to receive funds must: 1) be private voluntary non-profits or units of government, 2) have an accounting system, 3) practice nondiscrimination, 4) have demonstrated the capacity to deliver emergency food and/or shelter programs, and 5) if they are a private voluntary organization, they must have a voluntary board. Qualifying agencies are urged to apply.

The EFS Local Board will meet at the DeKalb County Senior Center at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 to consider applications for funding. Applications must be delivered to the DeKalb County Senior Center in Smithville by 1:00 p.m. that day or may be brought to the meeting by a representative, who is welcome to present the application to the Local Board.

Further information about the program and an application may be obtained by contacting, Pam Redmon, DeKalb County Senior Center Director, located at 718 South Congress Blvd., Smithville, TN 37166 Phone: (615) 597-7575.

February 2, 2022
By: Dwayne Page

A man responsible for three burglaries on the same day over two years ago is going to prison.

44-year-old Byron Ray Wilson, who was scheduled for trial Thursday, instead entered a plea Tuesday in DeKalb County Criminal Court to two counts of aggravated burglary. Judge Gary McKenzie sentenced Wilson to 10 years in each case to run consecutively for a total of 20 years. Because of his long criminal history most of it being from West Tennessee, Wilson has been classified as a career offender and must serve at least 60% of the sentence before he is eligible for parole. All other charges against him are being dismissed. He has been given jail credit for about 80 days of time already served.

Wilson was originally charged by Smithville Police with burglary and theft of property over $1,000 along with two counts of aggravated burglary for breaking into Harney’s Nursery on South Congress Boulevard, a residence on Joe Tittsworth Road, and another home on Meadowbrook Drive before being caught and held there by the homeowner until police could place him in custody. All three crimes occurred on October 7, 2019.

Greg Strong, Assistant District Attorney General summarized for WJLE the crimes Wilson admitted in court to committing.

“He broke into Harney’s Nursery and when officers responded there and were still on the scene investigating that burglary, they got a call that a house had been broken into on Joe Tittsworth Road. When police arrived at that house, they learned the homeowner had already chased Wilson away with a handgun. As a police officer was patrolling the area, he saw a suspicious figure in a garage at another house on Meadowbrook Drive. As the officer pulled into the driveway the suspicious figure was gone but he heard a ruckus in the house and found the homeowner wrestling Wilson to the ground where he held him until the officer arrested him. Wilson had items from all three burglaries in his possession when arrested,” said Strong.

Strong said he thought the sentence for Wilson was appropriate.

“Wilson was charged with two counts of aggravated burglary, one count of burglary and the attendant thefts that go with that. He had several other charges outstanding. He was a long-time offender from 2002 forward so we (prosecutors and public defender) agreed on 20 years at a 60% release eligibility date which was a good sentence for what he was charged with,” said Strong.

Smithville Police were called Monday, October 7, 2019 to Harney’s Nursery on South Congress Boulevard and observed that someone had kicked in the back door of the main office and went through the desk drawers. The only thing reported missing by the owner was a camo jacket that belonged to an employee and a set of keys on a lanyard.

Police were then summoned to a residence on Joe Tittsworth Road and upon arrival spoke with the homeowner who reported that he awoke from sleep to find an unknown man in his bedroom. After chasing the man out of his house, the homeowner returned to his room and noticed that his girlfriend’s jewelry including several gold necklaces and a gold oval ring valued at $2,000 had been stolen along with a pair of camo hunting boots and a Bluetooth headset.

Later while searching the area an officer saw a man peering out of an open garage at a residence on Meadowbrook Drive and stopped to talk with him but when he walked up to the garage the man was not there. The officer then noticed a door in the garage leading to the house and suspected the man had gone into the residence. Seconds later the door opened, and the homeowner emerged to report that he had caught the intruder (Wilson) by grabbing him around the neck and throwing him out of his house. The officer took Wilson into custody at the scene and upon a search found Wilson with the homeowner’s work badge in his pocket. Wilson was also wearing the camo jacket and he had the lanyard of keys from the nursery around his neck. He was also wearing the hunting boots and Bluetooth headset taken from the burglary on Joe Tittsworth Road.

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